Then Day Snuffed Out the Night
by Smile Life Away
Summary: It was in the night that Regulus found peace.


**A/N: This story was a result of everything and nothing at all, consequence of reading too much Hemmingway and too much Camus. **

**If you are interested in reading any other fics, by me, relating to Regulus, Sirius and the Black family (coming from the same "world" as this story) feel free to check out my profile where I have compiled a list.**

**Thanks to mew for betaing, and dealing with my influx of PMs, and the title idea =D**

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_Yellow suns dance in the distant night. They twinkle and they sparkle and they illuminate the moon – cold and hard – so that it s h i n e s. This is the welcome of the night. It carries the whistle of the wind and the fragrance of the brisk cold. And it f a s c i n a t e s. This is the beauty of the night. A fragile beauty so easily broken by sunlight. And it vanishes in the blue, blue sky of morning. This is the reality of the night - that it ends and is swallowed by dazzling light and full clouds. It gives way to the dewy green grasses and a gentle blue sky. Brisk cold changes to a pollenated breeze. And this is the magic of the day._

_Though night holds life's secrets, it is day that opens the blind eye to their truths. It is day where the twisted soul is burnt and it is to night that it flees. Hides. Finds a perfect refuge. It is to night where one can find peace._

Regulus sat frozen for a few moments and then he glanced over the parchment at the man sitting in front of him. The Avery he thought he knew so well.

"You wrote this?" he asked, trying his best not to sound patronizing.

Avery shrugged as an answer –yes_-_ it seemed to say. Yes, I wrote it.

"It's good," he said as he lifted a glass to his lips but did not drink.

"You think?" Avery's face was emotionless, but his eyes smiled. A hopeful glow entered them.

"Yeah." This time Regulus did drink – downing the glass of mead and then pouring himself another. "Yeah," he said again.

Regulus stood up suddenly and started for the door. He could Dissaparate from Hogsmeade and still make dinner, if he hurried. But he had no wish to hurry. He had no reason to. What was there to run to anyway except a sullen father and an overly concerned mother? He would take his time.

Eyes grazing the road, Regulus walked. Hands stuffed in the pockets of his robes while a wind slapped against his face. Even so, he walked.

"Black!" He did not answer, he just kept walking. "Regulus!" the exasperated man called, and Regulus – not Black – paused. There was a shuffle of footsteps and the man appeared beside him.

"Hello, Belial," he spoke softly. His voice was a whisper drowned in the misery of his mind. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"I wanted to make sure you were all right, you seemed-" Regulus Dissaparated before he could hear more. '_Don't be a wuss,'_ Belial Mulciber's words flooded back in his mind just as Regulus found himself at the doorstep of his parents' mansion – the Black Mansion – he knocked once…twice…th-

"Regulus!" His mother pulled him inside and – almost - hugged him. "We were worried about you! Let me go get your father!"

Regulus made no motion to follow her, or to answer her. He simply looked out the window and watched night descend; his solace had come at last, his peace. Regulus – almost - smiled.

"Master Regulus." Kreacher's squeak sent him spinning around. "Are you staying the night? I have prepared Master's room."

"Thank you, Kreacher." He did not look the elf in the eyes. "I will not be staying. I have somewhere to be," he explained.

"Shall I prepare Master Regulus's robes?"

"No, Kreacher. I'm going somewhere else. I'm going to see someone."

"So Master Regulus does not need Kreacher?"

Regulus did not answer; he turned back to the sky that had so suddenly become engulfed in darkness and then turned back to Kreacher.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me up at eight."

"Yes, Master Regulus."

"And Kreacher…thank you."

He walked up the stairs slowly, forgetting about his parents, his very weight pressing down on him. Emptiness was evident in his eyes and a hole was in his heart. It began to rain. The moon was crying and Regulus drifted into a restless sleep.

_Colorsandmusic colorsandmusic colorsandmusic colorsandmusic colorsandmusic_

"Master Regulus, you asked that I wake you up."

His eyes opened to see the house-elf waiting patiently.

"Thank you, Kreacher." He grabbed his wand. "I won't be back tonight."

A weightless descent down the stairs, a man disappeared into the darkness of the night and Regulus tried to remember _where_ he could possibly be.

The wind sent him south and fear pushed him east, pain wrestled him north and anxiety dragged him west. All too soon he was outside the door of a house he'd only heard mentioned form a distance – from the mouth of the black haired, grey-eyed boy who sat at the Gryffindor table – from the man that used to be his brother.

Regulus knocked. One…two…three…a blonde man answered.

"Is Andy - Is Andromeda here?" He sounded like a child, a broken and beaten child.

The man did not ask him who he was, but he called for "Dromeda" while Regulus looked towards the black sky. The night, his salvation.

"Regulus?" She breathed the words, but he could not tell if she was happy or angry to see him. Her brown eyes portrayed no emotion.

He stared at her and considered walking away because he had (he used to have) pride.

"Hi Andy – Andromeda." He tried to imagine he was speaking to Narcissa, his favorite cousin. "I…I was…in the neighborhood." It was a pathetic ending. He was only there for one reason: to find out about _him,_ where _he _could possibly be.

"Come inside, Regulus." She reached out and grabbed his arm, the pure one. Because she knew. She knew everything…"Come inside."

Regulus entered.

Andromeda's house was all life and beauty. All sunshine and happiness. All truth. It was a startling contrast to the night he so desired. The shadow where he could hide his secrets, the…

"I was wondering if you…"

"…Knew where Sirius was," she finished for him. She gave a little smile, a sad smile.

Of course she did. Andromeda knew everything. It did not mean she was planning on telling him. It did not mean anything had changed. She wasn't Andy anymore, she was Andromeda, Andromeda Tonks, she wasn't his cousin.

The moon stared down at him in judgment.

"I should go." A simple answer to a complex meaning. Not Andy, Andromeda, Andromeda Tonks, a stranger.

_Tell Sirius I'm sorry._ He didn't say that part. Regulus Black had (or at least the fragment of) pride. Regulus Black was not weak.

"Goodbye, Reggie." He paused at her words.

Five years old again_. _

He ran.

Five years old again.

And in Andromeda's arms he cried. Because he was _scared_ and _being bullied_ and even though Narcissa was his favorite, Andromeda would let him get tears on her robes.

"I'm sorry." Her sunlit room broke into the dark recesses of his mind. "I'm sorry." Daylight's truths destroyed hidden secrets. "Goodbye, cousin."

And tears still falling down his cheeks he broke away from her. Back into the blackness. Back into night's beauty. Back into secrets and shadows. But not back into peace.

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**A/N: Please drop a review. Oh, and vote on my poll =D **


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